It is a buyer’s market – but property buyers are wary

It’s a buyer’s market – but property buyers are wary

Many people have been taken by surprise with the changes we are experiencing in today’s property markets. After two decades of strong capital growth, the recent weakening of property prices has spooked many inexperienced investors and home buyers.

But according to leading property expert Michael Yardney, CEO of Metropole Property Strategists, for those of us who have experienced the ups and downs of a couple of property cycles, this slowdown is nothing exceptional. Rather, the extended boom conditions we witnessed during the last decade were contrary to the norm.

Conditions are currently presenting us with the perfect buyer’s market according you Yardney in his latest property market update

http://propertyupdate.com.au/it%E2%80%99s-a-buyer%E2%80%99s-market-%E2%80%93-but-buyers-are-wary.html

He explains that there are more properties for sale than there are interested purchasers, because many are concerned about ongoing talk of affordability issues, over-inflated property values and the future of interest rates.

Then there’s the rising cost of living, with the government’s proposed carbon tax adding to concerns about ever increasing household expenses. In fact Australians have done a dramatic about face in recent times, with more of us picking up where our parents left off and choosing to save our pennies rather than take on extra debt.

This renewed enthusiasm for filling our financial coffers is reflected in higher household savings ratios, the current low transaction volume for real estate.

All of these changes and consumer uncertainty, along with continuing negative press surrounding housing, has seen potential buyers sit on the sidelines; wary of making a mistake and either buying the wrong property, or over-committing to something that could slide in value.

Yardney explains that it is crucial to remember in a buyer’s market such as the one we are currently experiencing, is that you have to pay the right price for a property and that there are vendors out there who are still asking too much, with inflated prices failing to reflect the dramatically different conditions of today, compared with just a year or so ago.

But if the property deal stacks up and ticks all the boxes, now is the time that savvy investors are taking advantage of the buyers market explains Yardney.

This too shall pass and the tide will once again turn around and the market will pick up. It’s just a matter of time – like everything about property investment!